Mary Spencer

Mary Spencer (1857–1938) was a Canadian photographer.

Education Margaret Spencer was born on October 4, 1857, in St. Catharines, Ontario, the daughter of Margaret and Abraham Spencer. Spencer began her schooling at St. George's and later St. Catherine's Collegiate Institute, before she studied for a teaching degree at Lincoln County Model School beginning in 1877. on June 25, 1899, also offering oil painting classes. increasing her reputation as a photojournalist. She managed to obtain a series of images of the capture of the gang, even being allowed to photograph the gang during initial questioning and in the courtroom. Her mug shots of Bill Miner, William "Shorty" Dunn, and Louis Colquhuon were published in the local newspaper, the Kamloops Standard. In 1906 Spencer and her sister Isobel purchase an orchard in Summerland, British Columbia, and moved there three years later. In 1909, she sold the photography business to Mrs. L. M. Walker and moved to Summerland to run the orchard with her sister.

It is unclear whether Spencer re-established a full photography studio in Summerland, as photographs from that era evidence more family oriented topics, but she continued her artistic endeavors by painting china, was active in the Baptist Church community, and assisted Isobel with cultivating their orchard. Mary Spencer died of pneumonia on September 1, 1938, in the West Summerland hospital.